Sofa bedstead



March 25 1924. 1,48%,fl441 J. D. BELL SOFA BEDS TEAD Original Filed Dec.8, 1920 Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

[TED STATES JOSEPH D. BELL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SOFA BEDSTEAD.

Application filed December 8, 1920, Serial No. 429,188. Renewed August16, 1923.

T o (INTO/(0)12 7' f m a 1 concern Be it known that I, Josurn D. Bram, acitizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the countyof San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Sofa Bcdsteads, of which the. following is aspecification.

This invention relating to sofa bedsteads has particular reference tothe folding back and seat type in which a sectional mattress frame ismoved from a concealed position to an extended operative position byinverting the seat.

The primaryobjeet of the present invention is to provide a sofa bedsteadof the character described of generally improved construction,particularly with regard to the means for supporting the sectionalmattress frame and for guiding it to and from its operative andconcealed positions. In this construction, I have aimed to employ but aminimum number of parts so designed that they may be produced at arelatively low cost, and will support and guide the mattress frame insuch manner that very little effort is required for moving it to andfrom the concealed and operative positions.

I have also aimed to provide a construction in which the mattress framemay be any of various dimensions to suit the different requirements inmattress sizes, and in which the supporting and guiding structure may beof uniform size and be fitted to any mattress frame.

Another object is to provide a novel means for. supporting the back restin both the sofa and bedstead positions.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by thosefamiliar with this art as the invention becomes better understood byreference to the following de-.

housing, an invertible seat, a mattress frame composed of a plurality ofsections, and means for so supporting and guiding the sections that theymay be moved from an extended operative position in which the seat isinverted, to a concealed position with the seat upright, in which latterposition a rear bed section is disposed in an upright position at therear of the seat. In the present invention, I have provided novel meansoperative between the mattress frame sections and the housing and seat,whereby the bed sections may be moved to and from operative andconcealed positions by the action of inverting the seat and return-' ingit to upright position.

In the drawing, I have shown only such parts of a sofa bedstead as arenecessary for an understanding of the present invention, it beingobserved that the housing, seat, back and mattress section are shown ina somewhat conventional and diagrammatic manner. The housing includesends 5 and 6 joined by a back structure 7 and a front board 8. The seat9 may be pivotally con nected to the front board 8 or. to the housing inany suitable manner, such for example as by pivotal connections 11, orby the usual strap hinges, if desired. In the present case, legs 12 areemployed for supporting the seat in inverted position, but it should beunderstood that my invention is in no Way limited to the use of theselegs as any other means might be employed to the same end.

The mattress frame is composed of at least two sections, namely, frontand rear sections designated generally by characters 13 and 14. In thepresent instance, these sections are pivotally connected together bybolts 15, which also constitute guide ele ments or pins and co-operatewith tracks or guides as will be presently described. A footsection 16havin a foot rest 17 may be employed if desired, but these parts are notessential. The front frame section is supported by a pair of swinginglinks 18 p-ivotally mounted at 19 on the ends of the seat frame and therear section 14 by a pair of swinging links 21 pivotally mounted at 22on the ends of the housing. The adjoining ends of the front and rearframe sections are supported when in alignment against breakingdownwardly by the parts 15 resting on the track portions 23. Thesetracks may be of any suitable construction,

one being attached to the inner side of each end housing, formin acontinuous guide extending in a nera oblique path from an upper forwarpoint to a lower point at the rear portion of the housing. These tracksmay be of any suitable shape to be determined b the particulardimensions and style of t e sofa davenport and to imart to the mattressframe sections in conunction with the swinging links, the desiredmovement for carrying said sections to and from their operative andconcealed positions. In the present illustration each track has ahorizontally disposed upper portion 23 just referred to, and adownwardly and rearwardly curved or inclined portion 24 terminating in asubstantially horizontal rear portion 25. These tracks are also shown inthe form of slotways, but it should be understood that my invention isnot limited to this construction, as any equivalent guide structuremight be employed in conjunction with the swinging lin s. It will benoted that each track will function properly with but a single lowerguidin surface upon which its respective guide pin 15 rests, and thatthe upper surface inherent in a slotway structure is not essential.Contractile springs 26 may be employed for cushioning the movement wheninverting the seat and for assisting in turning the seat over to uprightposition. At present, the springs are connected to arms 27 fixed to theseat and to plates 28 fixed to the end housings 5 and 6, these platesbeing turned inwardly to provide stops 29 upon which the seat rests whenin upright osition.

It will be manifest that when the mattress frame is in the extendedposition shown in Fig. 1, the front and rear frame sections aresupported in alignment by the links 18 and 21 and by the guide pins 15resting on the track portions 23. When it is desired to convert thebedstead into a sofa, the foot section 16 will be folded up and the seatraised and swung rearwardly upon its pivots 11 to an upright position inthe housin Upon initially swinging the seat upwardl the links 18 will beswung rearw-ardly by the seat, thereb moving the guide pins 15r-earwardly a ong their respective tracks and swinging the rear framesection 14 rearwardly upon its links 21. As this movement is continuedthe guide pins 15 will gravitate along the track portions 24, causingthe mattress frame to break downwardly at the juncture of the sections13 and 14, thereby guiding the front section 13 downwardly into thelower portion of the housing and causing the rear section 14 to betilted in a. counter clockwise direction viewing Fig. 1, on the pivots31 of the links 21 during the rearward swinging movement of the latter.The-result is that when the seat has been turned over to its uprightposition-resting on the stops 29, the front' frame section 13 will behorizontally disposed beneath the seat and the rear section 14vertically disposed at the rear of the seat in substantially L-shapedrelation, thereby avoidin sharp bends or folds in the mattress anallowin greater room for a thick mattress or bed mg than is posible withthose constructions in which the main bed sections fold one above theother, beneath the seat.

It will be further observed that with a construction of the characterdescribed, the dimensions of the front and rear mattress sections withregard to length and width, may be changed at will without disturbingthe o erative relation of the swinging links and t- 1e tracks.Consequently, the long way of the mattress frame may extend lengthwisebetween the end housings 5 and 6, this t pe of bed being often desiredfor want of oor space. In such instance, the rear portion of the rearframe section 14 may be cut off at any point up to the pivotalconnections 21 and the foot board 16 may be eliminated, the housingbeing lengthened so that the occupants lay lengthwise between the endhousings.

My invention also contemplates the pro-- vision of a novelback-supporting means. I propose to support the back 32 from the seat 9in both positions of the latter and to this end I employ a plurality ofbrackets 33. These brackets, fixed to the seat 9, are so arched andpivotally connected at 34 to the back as to support the same above thefloor and beneath the seat when the latter is inverted. In this positionthe tendency of the back is to drop at its rear portion, due to the factthat the fulcrum points 34 are closer to the front edge, and thismovement is restricted by yielding or cushioning stops in the form offlat spring elements 35 attached to the brackets 33. The seat may besupported solely by these brackets 33, or if desired, the legs 12 may beutilized as brackets, furnishing additional support for the back. Tothis end, each leg 12 is equipped with a fixed rearwardly projecting arm36 pivotally connected to the back as shown, ,and is further equippedwith a spring element 37 functioning the same as the spring elements 35.When the seat is moved to its upright position, the back which will thenbe supported on top of the seat, may be swung in a clockwise directionabout the fulcrum points 34, viewing Fig. 2, to the full line positionshown thereon. In this position, it is desired that the back shall havea limited amount of vertical play so that its lower edge willaccommodate itself to variations in the top of the seat, therebyinsuring that the back will fit and rest upon the seat. To this end, Iprovide each bracket 33 and 36 with an elongated opening 38, throughwhich the back ivot bolts-pass, allowing the desired vertica play whenthe back is in upright position.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of theobjects prefaced above, and while I have illustrated but a singleembodiment, it should be understood that considerable change might bemade in the construction and arrangement without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sofa bedstead, a housing, a back, an invertible seat, a foldingmattress frame comprising a plurality of sections, of which in theconcealed position, a front section is disposed beneath the seat and arear section in an upright position at the rear of the seat, and meanssupporting the mattress frame and upon which it is movable to and fromits concealed and extended positions, comprising one pair of swinginglinks between the seat and front frame section and another between thehousing and rear frame section, and a track at each side of the mattressframe for uiding the adjoining ends of the front and rear frame sectionsin a general oblique path extending from an upper'forward point to alower-rear point with respect to the housing, whereby to support thefolding frame intermediate the swingiug links when the frame is inextended position and to guide the folding sections to the concealedposition.

2. In a sofa bedstead, the combination of a housing, an invertible seat,a mattress frame including a front and a rear section, swinging linkssupporting the front section from the seat and the rear section from thehousing, and guides at each side of the mattress frame upon which theframe sections intermediate said links are slidable for guiding thefront frame to a concealed position beneath the seat and the rear framesection to an upright position at the rear of the seat.

3. In a sofa bedstead, the combination of a housing, an invertible seat,a mattress frame composed of a front and .a rear sec-.

tion, means pivotally supporting the front section upon the seat, meanspivotally supporting the rear section upon the housing, and means forsupporting the adjoining ends of the frame sections against breakingdownwardly when the mattress frame is in extended position and forguiding in co-operation with the first and second named-

